


It All Comes Down To This

by ImNewAtThis



Category: Emmerdale
Genre: Hospital, Might add more tags later, Revenge, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-08-14
Updated: 2018-08-25
Packaged: 2019-06-27 07:48:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,490
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15681120
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ImNewAtThis/pseuds/ImNewAtThis
Summary: Aaron and Robert finally had their wedding, the day had been perfect. However as the celebrations get underway, the night is not over, and something lurks in the dark.Not that great at summaries.





	1. The Night's Not Over Yet

The ceremony was beautiful. In their own back garden, with their close friends and family surrounding them, they finally got married. Legally this time.  


The day had gone off without a hitch: neither groom got cold feet, the wedding went ahead on time, and even the Dingles managed to behave, no need for the police this time around. Practically everyone was reduced to tears during the vows, Chas and Vic passing on tissues, even the men were moved, Cain included, whether he admitted it or not. The ‘Best Women’ had decorated the garden with fairy lights as a surprise for the boys. They’d set up a white alter, with flowers chosen by the grooms themselves, and Harriet had officiated the ceremony. “It’d be my pleasure”, she had said.  


The celebrations were soon moved to the pub. Despite initially protesting against holding the party at the Woolpack, the boys soon relented and agreed to Chas’ pleading, and now the party was in full swing.  


Aaron looked around the room with a smile, everyone everywhere was happy. Chas and Paddy were by the bar chatting to Liv, laughing away as they talked. Victoria and Diane soon joining them as the two mother’s-of-the-grooms shared a hug. The Dingles were certainly taking advantage of the free drinks and food, with Zak propping up at the bar, and Sam and Cain sharing a pint. Marlon and Jessie were sat in the corner, both smiling as they sipped champagne, catching Aaron’s eye, Jessie raised her glass and gave a smile to her neighbour, before turning back to her conversation. Moira and Matty were both there, as well as Charity and Vanessa, Jimmy and Nicola, even Doug. Almost the entire village had turned up to the after party, even Joe Tate, who had sworn to be on his best behaviour, as he sat next to Debbie and the kids. As Aaron looked around, searching the crowd for one face in particular, he was stopped by a familiar voice behind him.  


“Looking for me?”  


Aaron smiled widely, turning to face his new husband, who grinned back, holding Seb at his hip. Aaron would forever have his breath taken away by Robert, he’d accepted that. As his eyes roamed his husband’s body, his dark blue suit with a matching tie, his perfectly styled hair, curtesy of Bernice, and the brand-new ring placed on his finger, the thought popped into his head that he suddenly couldn’t wait for the party to be over, so they could celebrate on their own, on their wedding night, and he would take great pleasure in taking the suit off him.  


Robert walked the last few steps towards him, Seb now raising his arms in a motion to indicate to Aaron that he wanted a cuddle, to which Aaron immediately responded by scooping him up in his arms and pressing a kiss to his head, his smile never leaving his face.  


“You look happy,” Robert observed, “It suits you.”  


Aaron looked up at him, eyes sparkling. “That’s down to you.” He was beaming now, as he moved to press a gentle kiss to Robert’s lips. “You look happy too.”  


Robert’s eyes brightened, “I’m more than happy, I’m ecstatic, this is the happiest day of my life.” He brought his hand up to ruffle his sons hair, whilst his other hand moved to wrap around his newly-wedded husband’s waist, pulling them both into a hug, earning a chorus of awww’s from behind them.  


As they pulled away, Aaron looked into Robert’s eyes. “Today has been perfect, hasn’t it?” Robert grinned, “Yes it has.” Moving to take Aaron’s hand, “I wouldn’t have had it any other way.”  


“Me neither.” Aaron grinned, moving once again to kiss his husband. Only, before they could get very far, a noise from between them pulled them apart. Looking down, their eyes focused on Seb, who was now beginning to tear up, snot beginning to appear under his nose. “Aww, is someone being a bit grumpy? Eh Seb?” Aaron cooed, bouncing him in his arms. “What’s wrong, little man?”  


“I think he wants Teddy.” Robert smiled slightly, brushing his finger along his son’s chin, bending down to look him in the eye, “Is that it Seb? Are you missing Teddy?” He said softly.  


“I think we left him back at the flat, do you want me to go and get it?” Aaron looked back up at Rob. “No it’s fine, I’ll get it, I’ll bring his bag too, he might need changing.” Robert chuckled. “Urgh.” Aaron grimaced, as he sniffed the air, “You couldn’t have waited until later eh?” He joked softly, looking back down at the boy, “Couldn’t have done this when Aunty Liv had hold of you?”  


Robert laughed, “She’d only pass him off to one of us even if he did.” He pressed a kiss to Seb’s head before he looked back at Aaron, “Keep hold of him, yeah? I won’t be long.” He pressed another kiss to Aaron’s lips, this one soft but chaste. Aaron bounced Seb on his hip, “Alright then, but hurry back, yeah?”  


“Course.” Robert grinned back, before heading towards the door to the pub. Aaron watched him go, before turning his attention back to his son. “Right then, you. Let’s head over to Nanna Chas and Grandad Paddy while we wait for Daddy, yeah?” Seb babbled in response, to which Aaron nodded his head. “Come on then.” And together the two made their way to the bar, where Liv, Chas, Paddy, Diane and Victoria were all still chatting between them.  


“Here he is!” Diane exclaimed, turning to face him, “My new son-in-law” before looking at Seb, “And my grandson too! How are you, Pet?” Diane asked Aaron, as his sister stepped aside to let him join their little circle.  


“I’m great thanks, Diane.” He beamed, “You all enjoying the party?” He turned to the group.  


“Oh we’re loving it son” Chas said, raising her glass of orange juice, “It’s been a lovely day, and I’m so proud of you, love.” She gushed, grabbing his cheek slightly and pinching it. “Ah, ger’off” Aaron batted her hand away in mock annoyance, though he laughed slightly, shaking his head. “So where’s my son-in-law, then?” Chas asked, “Haven’t had a dance with him yet.”  


“This one started crying,” Aaron smiled down at Seb, “He might need a change so Rob’s gone to get his teddy and his bag, he shouldn’t be long.” “Ah,” Vic nodded, “The joys of parenting. Kids pick the best moments don’t they?” She laughed.  


“Oh it’s fine, isn’t it Seb?” Aaron spoke softly, “We don’t mind do we? And when Daddy comes back you’ll be all better won’t ya?” He cooed, “Yes you will.”  


Paddy looked on with a proud smile, and the beginnings of a tear in his eye, “You’re a natural with him, you know?” He nodded as Aaron looked up at him with a smile, “I’m so proud of you, of you and Robert.” Aaron smiled again with gratitude, “Cheers Paddy, it means a lot.” Paddy nodded in return, before wiping his eye with his sleeve.  


“Right.” Liv piped up, as Aaron turned to look at his sister, “Can I have a turn?” She asked, holding her hands out towards Seb. “Yeah, of course.” Aaron nodded, handing the baby over to her. “Right, little man, are you gonna have some fun with your Aunty Liv?” She cooed. “Uh, and his Aunty Vic!” Vic chimed in with a smile. “And your Aunty Vic.” Liv repeated, with a smile. “Come on then.” And the two made their way to an empty booth and sat down, Seb in between them, and Aaron watched on.  


“Come here then you!” His attention was soon back on his mum as she quickly pulled him into a tight hug. “Ooh, I love you so much!” Aaron laughed, “Alright mum, you’re gonna suffocate me if you carry on.” She grinned in return, “Just want to congratulate you again, love.”  


“And me too, Pet.” Diane smiled, “You and Robert are perfect together, I’m happy for the pair of you.”  
Aaron’s grin widened, “We wouldn’t have done it without any of you lot, so thanks for the support.” He then turned to look at the party goers. “It looks like everyone’s having fun.”  


Chas nodded. “Yeah, mum’s certainly having a whale of a time.” She indicated to the booth near the door, where Faith was downing glass after glass of champagne, laughing and leaning back on Eric, who looked slightly perturbed. Aaron chuckled, “Looks like gran might need those drinks taken off her, mum.”  


“I’m on it.” Debbie jumped in, coming up next to the four, Joe following behind. “I’ll get her to sober up, congratulations again Aaron.” She smiled, putting her hand on his arm, which he responded with a nod, before watching her make her way over to Faith.  


A small cough caught his attention, and he turned to face Joe, who looked slightly awkward, but had a small smile on his face.  


“I know we didn’t get off to the best of starts,” he began, and Aaron nodded, but let him continue, “but I just wanted you to know, that I hope we can get past it eventually, and I really am pleased for you, and Robert.” And Aaron chuckled, “You mean Richard?” He joked, and Joe laughed along. “Yeah, I’ll apologise to him for that. Anyway,” he raised his glass, “I just wanted to congratulate you, and thank you for allowing me to join the party.” Aaron shook his hand, “No problem, mate. We’ll leave everything in the past.” And with a nod, Joe followed in the direction of where Debbie was now trying to pry a glass of champagne off of an intoxicated Faith.  


“That was… nice of him.” Chas observed. Aaron nodded, “Yeah, I reckon we should move on now, it’s in the past.”  


“What’s taking Robert so long?” Diane looked at her watch, “You only live five minutes away.”  


Aaron looked at his own watch. Half an hour had now passed since Robert had left to get Seb’s things, he should have been back by now.  


“I’ll go look for him, check he’s alright.” Aaron started backing away towards the door, “He probably can’t find Teddy. Mum, would you mind keeping an eye on Seb and Liv? I won’t be long.”  


“Course not love, go and get your husband, bring him back here.” She smiled, before indicating to behind him, “I think Cain’s getting the welly ready for him.”  


Aaron smiled again, before heading to the door, nodding at Charity and Vanessa as he passed. “Congratulations Aaron.” He smiled, “Cheers Vanessa.”  


“Yeah, congrats on getting wed to blondie, babe.” Charity slurred, raising her nearly empty glass. Aaron chuckled before leaving the pub.  


The cool breeze from outside was welcoming as he made his way down the steps and headed in the direction of the Mill. As he walked, his mind wandered to the day’s events. He’d loved every second of it, getting to celebrate such a special day with family and friends, and getting to finally marry the love of his life. He grinned as he thought of Robert, and his little family.  


As he made his way up the driveway, he noticed the door to the building was wide open, and he frowned as he walked towards it, stepping through the doorway and turning to the door to their flat, which was also open, only this one was partly closed, so Aaron couldn’t see inside. As he pushed the door lightly, he became aware of the complete silence in the flat, and the fact that all the lights were off. As the door made a creaking noise, he lifted his hand to the light switch.  


He then heard something shifting in the dark.  


“Rob? Is that you?” He spoke quietly, but with no other sound in the room his voice travelled throughout the flat.  


He flicked the light switch, and then turned to face an unexpected sight.  


Robert was slumped on the floor against the sofa, eyes wide and terrified, fabric tied around his mouth, and rope around his wrists and ankles, preventing him from moving. Aaron quickly noticed blood dripping down the side of his face, coming from a cut at his temple and staining his white dress shirt. His heart suddenly felt heavy as he made a step towards his husband.  


“Robert?” He gulped, eyes wide, “Wha-“  


“I wouldn’t go near him if I were you.” A voice called out from the kitchen area, and Aaron’s eyes snapped up in shock, his eyes focusing on a figure standing there, holding a gun, pointed in Robert’s direction. “Wouldn’t want anything bad to happen now would we?”  


Aaron stared in shock, looking back at his husband, whose skin was growing pale, before turning his head back to the figure to his right. He opened his mouth to speak, before briefly closing it, then opening it once again.  


“Lachlan?”


	2. Just Getting Started

Robert unlocked the door to their flat and turned the light on, looking around. The flat was a bit of a tip, a result of the wedding celebrations that morning. He chuckled, certainly glad that the party had been moved to the pub, meaning they would be able to get out of cleaning up afterwards. He set about putting together a bag for Seb, filled with clothes and diapers, bottles and toys. Really this should have been sorted earlier, given that they’d planned for Seb to spend the night with Victoria whilst they had the night to themselves, but they’d gotten caught up in the excitement of the day’s festivities and had forgotten. With the bag ready, he started a search for Seb’s teddy, he’d seen it earlier, so he knew it would be around somewhere. He soon spotted it poking out from underneath the sofa, and reached down to get it. “There you are!” He then made his way over to the bag.  


However, as he placed the teddy in and began to zip the bag up, he heard the door open and footsteps made their way into the flat.  


Robert smirked. It must be Aaron.  


"Missing me already, are you?” He chuckled, keeping his back to the door, “I told you I wouldn’t be long, Aaron.”  


"See that’s where you’re wrong,” he heard from behind him, and he froze. “One, I’m not Aaron, and two, you’re not going back to the pub anytime soon.”  


Robert slowly turned to face the voice, and came face to face with Lachlan, who was standing there sporting an unreadable expression, hands buried in his coat pockets.  


"Lachlan? What are you doing here?” Robert frowned, eyebrow raised.  


The teenager shrugged slightly, a small smile playing on his lips, “I saw the light was on, figured I would come and say congratulations.” He stepped a little further into the room.  


Robert nodded, still confused, “Right, well I appreciate that, but you could have just gone to the pub, you know? Aaron’s there, and everyone else, I’ll be heading back there in a minute, I was just getting Seb’s things.” He held up Seb’s bag before starting to make his way over to the door.  


However, Lachlan blocked his path.  


"I’m afraid I can’t let you leave.” He kept his hands in his pockets, eyes burning into Roberts.  


"Why? Is something wrong? I’m sorry Lachlan but whatever it is, it’s going to have to wait. I need to get back.” And with that, he made to step around the teenager. Only to be stopped by something pressing into his chest.  


"I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”  


Robert looked down, and came face to face with a gun, pointing right at his heart. He stilled, face paling as he looked back up at Lachlan’s face.  


"Why-“ He swallowed, “Why do you have a gun, Lachlan?”  


"Well why wouldn’t I have a gun?” Lachlan stepped forward, pushing Robert back with the gun until he was leaning against the arm of the sofa. “I need to protect myself somehow, don’t I?”  


Robert’s eyes locked back on the gun, “P-protect yourself from what?”  


"People like you.”  


Robert's eyes snapped back up at Lachlan.  


"Like me? What have I done?” His voice carried his nerves now, as his eyes continued to flick back and forth between the gun and the teenager.  


"People like you never suffer,” The boy growled, eyes narrowing in fury, “You take from everyone, and you ruin people’s lives, but somehow, you still manage to get your happy ending! Well, not this time!”  


Robert tried to push the gun away, “I don’t understand Lachlan, has something happened? What is it? You know I’ll listen to you-“  


"Oh don’t patronize me! I’m not a child. You can’t tell me what to do! It’s your fault Belle’s left me! All of this is down to you!” Lachlan grabbed Robert’s collar, forcing him to stand up right.  


"Belle’s left you? Why? You’re not making any sense Lachlan.”  


The teen rolled his eyes, a look of annoyance on his face, “Stop acting so clueless!” And in his anger he brought the gun up and hit Robert round the head with it, knocking him out and leaving him slumped on the sofa.  


The last thing Robert saw was Lachlan pulling out rope.  


***  


His head was hurting like mad. His eyes blinked rapidly trying to make out his surroundings. He could tell the lights had now been turned off, and he could feel the sofa behind him, he was still in the flat. As he went to move his arms, he found they were tied behind his back, and his legs were also tied up. He couldn’t move.  


He tried to shout out for help, only his voice was muffled and he quickly realised he had been gagged. He could also feel something sticky running down the side of his face.  


"Ah, so you’re awake again then?”  


Robert’s head snapped in the direction of where he knew the kitchen was. If he squinted, he could just about make out Lachlan standing next to the table. “I’ve gotta say, that didn’t take so long, you were only out about ten minutes.” Lachlan was looking at his watch as he came over, his phone lighting up his face. “Shame, really. I was enjoying the silence.”  


The boy crouched down in front of his captive, looking round briefly before settling his eyes back on Robert. “Scared looks good on you Rob, should have done this sooner.”  


Robert tried to wriggle free from his binds. “Yeah, that’s not gonna work, this isn’t the first time I’ve done this you know?” Robert, stared at him in horror. He was genuinely afraid now. Why was Lachlan being like this?  


"Now, I’ve got to admit, I didn’t plan this far ahead so you’ll have to bear with me.” Lachlan said, before smirking, “Well, it’s not like you have a choice anyway, is it?” He moved to sit on the coffee table, so he was now looking down at Robert, a cruel smile on his face.  


"For now, I think we’ll just sit here for a bit yeah? Enjoy the peace and quiet. You never know, someone might come looking for you, eh? I mean what’s a wedding party without both its grooms?”  


Robert’s heart plummeted as he thought of someone he loved coming in to find him, being put in danger. He hoped to God that Aaron didn’t come searching for him now, he couldn’t bear to think of him being put in danger because of him. Though, realistically, he knew that he need to figure out some way of getting help, because it didn’t look like Lachlan was going to be letting him go anytime soon, and he was getting more and more frightened as time went on.  


Lachlan opened his mouth as if to say something, however he was stopped as the sound of footsteps were made on the gravel outside. Robert’s eyes widened when he realised someone was coming in, and Lachlan smirked, putting a finger to his lips to indicate to Robert to be silent, before making his way over to the kitchen again.  


He heard movement outside of the flat door, as someone made their way into the building, before a hand appeared on the door, pushing it open slowly with a creek, and then a familiar voice called into the flat.  


"Rob? Is that you?”  


Robert’s heart stopped. Aaron. Aaron was here, he couldn’t be here! As the lights suddenly switched on, Robert’s eyes adjusted until he could make out his husband standing by the door in his suit, his own eyes adjusting before locking on him on the floor. He looked shocked, and worried, and Robert’s heart was pounding when he realised he hadn’t spotted Lachlan yet. Aaron stepped towards him.  


"Robert? Wha-“  


Only Lachlan interrupted him before he could continue, finally making his presence known. Robert could see the look of shock growing on Aaron’s face as he quickly looked in Lachlan’s direction. He looked frightened as Lachlan warned him against getting any closer, threatening that something bad may happen, and Robert once again became all too aware that the angry teenager was pointing the gun in his direction. He then watched in silence as his husband finally addressed the intruder.  


"Lachlan?”  


***  


Aaron felt frozen in shock as he stared at the teenager. He hadn’t moved from his place in the kitchen, the gun in his hand was still trained on Robert, who looked too afraid to move. Aaron was confused, they hadn’t seen Lachlan for a few days, why was he here? And why did he have a gun?  


"Lachlan, what are you doing mate?” Aaron slowly edged his way towards him, “Put the gun down yeah?”  


"No!” Lachlan’s voice was firm, and his eyes were cold, “He deserves it! It’s all because of him!”  


"What is, Lachlan? What’s he done?” Aaron’s eyes were wide as they drifted from the gun, to Lachlan, and then to his husband, who didn’t look to be in great shape thanks to the head wound.  


"It’s because of him that everyone I love is dead! He caused it all!” Lachlan’s hand that was holding the gun was shaking, and Aaron couldn’t understand what he was saying.  


"How is it his fault? Lachlan, just tell me what you think he’s done!”  


And then Lachlan stopped shaking, his hand steadied, and he stepped closer to Robert, pressing the gun into the back of his head. Aaron could see Robert’s eyes squeeze shut, as tears appeared. He could feel tears of his own starting to gather as he watched Lachlan draw a deep breath, nerves steadying before looking Aaron dead in the eyes.  


"He made me kill my mum.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Initially I was going to move straight onto what happens next after Aaron gets to the Mill, but then I started getting ideas for what happened between Robert and Lachlan before he got there, and so I decided to write Rob's POV. Thanks for reading, hope you enjoy! L x


	3. The Truth Will Always Come Out

The only sound that could be heard was heavy breathing, and the barely there ticking of the clock on the mantel-piece. Aaron couldn’t move. All he could do was stare at Lachlan in horror as his brain processed what exactly it was that he had just said. Robert’s eyes opened slowly, as he attempted to turn his head in Lachlan’s direction, only the gun was preventing him from doing so.

“Your mum?” Aaron asked, bewildered, eyes wide and throat dry, “What? Lachlan I don’t understand, your mum died in a car accident, I don’t-“

“It wasn’t an accident.” Lachlan’s eyes were hard and stared directly into Aaron’s, sending a shiver down his spine. The gun remained at the back of Robert’s head, thumb on the trigger, and Aaron knew it would only take one wrong move, and it would all be over. “I did it. I caused the crash.”

Aaron swallowed, and he took in a deep breath. “What did you do?”

Lachlan shifted slightly, digging the gun a little further into the back of Robert’s head, causing him to wince behind his gag. “I saw the lorry coming, I saw it and I grabbed the wheel and drove us into it.”

Aaron’s eyes drifted down to look at his husband, his mind suddenly taking him back to the time just after the accident, when Robert had tried to place blame on Lachlan, convinced he’d done something to cause the crash. He had been right. All along he had been right, and Aaron had told him he was wrong. He’d told him he was just trying to ease his own guilt, oh how wrong he’d been.

Aaron looked back up at Lachlan, who hadn’t moved once. “Why would you do that? She was your mum! And your grandad, he died too.”

“She turned Belle against me!” The teen was shaking again, the beginnings of tears forming beneath his eyes. “She convinced her to dump me so I’d have to go to Australia with them! I just wanted her to stop controlling my life! And grandad, well… he was just collateral damage I guess.” He then turned his attention to the floor.

Aaron frowned but bit his tongue to stop himself from saying anything. He nodded slightly, taking it all in before looking back at Lachlan. “And what about Rebecca?”  


Lachlan’s head snapped up. “Rebecca?”

“She was in the car too, Lachlan. She could have died. She ended up with brain damage! Did you not feel guilty?”

“Of course I did!” Lachlan spat, “I didn’t mean any harm! I just wanted to stop us from going away, none of that was supposed to happen!”

“But it did! It did happen.”

“I know!” Lachlan yelled, “But I can’t change that now, can I? Anyway too much has happened now for me to care anymore.”

At that, Aaron glanced back at Robert, eyes narrowing, and then looked back at the teen. “What do you mean? What else has happened?”

Lachlan stared at him for a few seconds, as if debating his next move before sighing. “Well, I suppose I’ve started now, I may as well finish. Though I’m afraid you’re going to have to come and sit by Robert now. I can’t have you running out whilst I’m talking.” He moved the gun from the back of Robert’s head and pointed it directly at Aaron now, before nodding his head towards the couch. “Go on then, sit down.”

Aaron swallowed, before slowly walking over towards the couch, and sitting on the floor next to Robert. He took the opportunity to look over at his husband and his worry grew. The head wound was still bleeding steadily, and his skin was incredibly pale now. His eyes were drooping, but he managed to lift his head to look at Aaron, nodding his head slightly in reassurance that he was fine. Once reassured, Aaron turned back to Lachlan, who had closed the door to the flat and was now standing in front of it, preventing them from escaping.

“You’re not the first person to have found out about the crash, you know?” Lachlan spoke, still holding the gun in front of him, pointed at both men on the floor.  


“Who else knew?” Aaron stared at Lachlan, waiting.

“Gerry.”

Aaron drew in a sharp breath. “Gerry?” He whispered. “How?”

“Well, it turns out I accidentally called him whilst we were chasing Robert that day, he didn’t pick up, but the call went to voicemail, recorded everything.” Lachlan cleared his throat before continuing. “I didn’t realise straight away, until he mentioned he’d had a voicemail from me. Thankfully, luck was on my side and the idiot broke his phone, so that bought me some time. But then he bought a new one, and the message was still there.”

Aaron moved his hand and placed it on Robert’s knee beside him, a poor attempt at comfort, but it was the best he could do considering his husband was tied up and gagged and they were in a room with a psycho teenager holding a gun. “So what did you do?”

“I managed to persuade him not to listen to it, I told him that it was the last time I heard my mum speak and that I didn’t want anyone else to hear it. So, since Gerry is such a good old friend, he deleted it for me, he was understanding and he didn’t question it at all. So that was that.”

“But?” Aaron asked, he knew there would be more to this, he just had to listen.

Lachlan chuckled slightly, lip curling upwards into a rather nasty smile.

“But, Gerry never did know when to mind his own, did he?.” The teen moved closer slightly, passing the gun from one hand to the other, eyes trained on it. “He got suspicious of me a couple of months later, said I was acting odd. Somehow he managed to find the voicemail again, and he listened to it, and he knew what I’d done.”

Aaron’s eyes shone in recognition as he remembered about a week before Gerry died, how he had been trying to retrieve an old voicemail, he’d even asked him for help on it. Why didn’t he just tell him?

“What did he say to you?”

“He listened to me at first,” Lachlan smiled slightly, sniffing. “He said he would stand by me, that I was his friend and he owed me one. And I believed him initially, I really did.” He nodded his head, eyes still downcast. “But then he got drunk in the pub one day and he started saying things that didn’t make any sense to anyone else, but to me, I knew he couldn’t keep his mouth shut, no matter how hard he tried.”

Lachlan then moved to the arm chair near the door, and sat himself down on the arm. “So I asked him to meet me at the B&B, Doug had asked us to mind the place whilst he went out. And Gerry… he just couldn’t leave it alone could he? He just had to keep pushing me.” He growled.

Aaron’s eyes hardened, and he could feel the tears growing again. “Did you cause the collapse? Was it you?”

And Lachlan could only nod. Aaron’s heart dropped. “I kicked the pole that was keeping the ceiling up and it all collapsed. He survived it. He was injured and trapped but he was alive. And he er-“ Lachlan sniffed, wiping away a tear with his sleeve. “He was trying to persuade me to help him, and at first he was saying all the right things, and I was so close to helping him, and then he blew it. He blew it by bringing the car crash up again. So I picked up this rock, and… and I ended it.”

Aaron stared at the teen, in both shock and fury. He knew the kid was sick, but a murderer? He glanced at his husband. Robert was staring straight at Lachlan, eyes wide and afraid. How could he do that?

“I can’t believe it was you all this time!” Aaron suddenly growled. “He was your friend! He trusted you, and you killed him!” He was furious. “You even let Doug take the blame? How could you?”

“Do you think I wanted to?” Lachlan shouted back. “I didn’t want any of that to happen but I had to do it, if I hadn’t he’d have told Belle and she’d have left me! She’s all I’ve got!”

Aaron couldn’t do anything but look at the boy. He was insane, clearly. How could he justify any of this?

“So what next? I mean, you clearly got away with it, so why are you telling us now?”

Lachlan sighed, looking back up at the two of them. “Because it didn’t end there.”

Aaron breathed deeply. “So what happened after that?”

“Terry.”

Aaron frowned, “Terry? As in the guy who pretended to be Gerry’s uncle, that Terry?”

Lachlan nodded, bringing one hand up to wipe at his nose, shifting the gun over to the other hand.

“Terry got hold of Gerry’s sketch book, and it turns out that Gerry had drawn the crash, he’d drawn me killing mum and grandad. So I tried to convince him to let me have it, but he wouldn’t let me. I tried to move on, but then I started getting these texts from an unknown number, saying they knew what I’d done.”

And Aaron nodded, remembering. “The texts from Liv.”

Lachlan nodded, “But I didn’t know that then, I thought Terry had figured it out and he was blackmailing me. So I tracked him down at a funeral, he was busy conning another family. And I killed him.”

Aaron shouldn’t have been shocked anymore, but his eyes still widened. “You killed him because you thought he was the one sending the texts?”

Lachlan nodded quickly before standing up. “I didn’t know it was Liv then, I was sure it was Terry. And then when I got another text afterwards and I realised I was wrong, I was afraid because I didn’t know who it was.

“So then what? What did you do after that?”

“I thought for a minute that it could have been Robert, I thought maybe he was suspicious again.” And Lachlan trained his eyes on Robert, who was staring up at him, eyes showing a mixture of fear and anger and just complete and utter horror. “But then I rang the number, and it was Liv’s phone that was ringing, and then I knew it was her.”

Aaron swallowed again. “So you knew it was Liv sending you those texts, then what?”

Lachlan looked around the room, eyes locking on the carbon monoxide detector. Aaron followed his line of sight and turned to look behind him. “No.” He shook his head, turning back to Lachlan, horror once again etched on his face. Robert looked on in confusion. “Liv was right, wasn’t she? It was you who caused that gas leak. You messed with our boiler and you switched the batteries around, didn’t you?”

Beside him, Robert looked at his husband, realisation dawning on him, before he looked back up at the teenager, eyes shining brightly with tears.

Lachlan nodded. “Yeah.” He coughed. “It was me.”

Aaron’s face twisted in anger. “They could have died!” He growled, standing up suddenly. Robert let out a muffled sound in alarm and Lachlan pointed the gun at Aaron. “If I hadn’t have come home when I did, they’d have been dead! And it would have been all your fault!”

“I had to protect myself Aaron, okay?”

“Protect yourself? It’s everyone else who needs protecting from you!” Aaron hissed. “Lachlan, Seb could have been in there! Your own cousin!”

“I know!” Lachlan shouted. “It’s why I went back, when Rebecca told me Seb was with Robert, I panicked and went to get him. Only when I got there, Seb wasn’t there, and then Robert had this text off Diane saying Seb was with her. So I made to leave but then Liv turned up, and she started saying all these things so I had to knock her out, and then I had no choice but to leave them there.”

Lachlan turned to Robert, “I was just trying to protect myself Robert, okay? It was nothing personal.”

Robert looked at him, shaking his head, eyes glaring at him in anger.

And then Lachlan continued.

“Then Rebecca turned up and it was all just this one big mess and I-“

Aaron’s head snapped up from where he was glancing at Robert. “Hang on a minute,” he interrupted. “Rebecca? Rebecca was there?”

Lachlan pointed the gun in the direction of the sofa, “Sit down, Aaron. Now.”

Aaron huffed, “Lachlan-”

“Sit down, Aaron! Or I’ll shoot him!” Lachlan pointed the gun back at Robert, finger back on the trigger, and Aaron had no choice but to do as he said. He sat back down next to Robert, looking at him and putting his hand back on his knee, rubbing slow circles in a soothing motion and mouthing _it’s okay_ , at him. He looked back up at Lachlan.  


“What happened with Rebecca?”

Lachlan sighed again. “She turned up to see Seb. I tried to get her to leave, I told her he was with Diane but she didn’t believe me. She walked in and saw Robert and Liv, and she got her phone out to call an ambulance but I had to stop her.”

Aaron narrowed his eyes. “And then?”

“I hit her over the head and put her in my boot.”

Aaron breathed in a sharp breath. “So I take it she didn’t go to Ibiza or Wales then?” Lachlan shook his head. “Where did you take her?”

“I kept her in this cabin in the woods, away from the village. I took her phone so that I could make it look like she had just left. I confessed everything to her and I really thought she had forgiven me, that she understood. She was being so kind. Then we made this deal, where if I helped her to leave, if I let her take Seb and leave the village, she wouldn’t tell anyone about what I’d done.”

Aaron heard a muffled gasp from next to him and turned to Robert and instantly knew what was going through his mind. The thought of Seb being taken away from them was unbearable. Aaron squeezed his knee gently before turning back to the teen.

“And then?”

“And then the kids from the village went camping in the woods. I thought they were going to find her so I rushed back, and she knocked me out and tried to escape. I chased her through the woods and eventually caught her before she could catch their attention. And then she got confused again, thought she was back in the car crash, only she was pretending and she was using her brain damage to try and confuse me! And I couldn’t trust her anymore! So I killed her.”

Aaron let out a breath he didn’t realise he was holding. “You killed her? Rebecca’s dead?”

Lachlan nodded.

Aaron growled, and beside him he could feel Robert shaking, he couldn’t blame him, he was scared too. “What did you do with her?”

The teen breathed out slowly, scratching the back of his head. “I buried her in the woods, not far from Terry.”

Aaron closed his eyes, nodding slightly before opening them and looking back at Lachlan. “So, if you got away with it all, why are you telling us now, and why is it Robert’s fault?”

“Because Belle found out!” Lachlan shouted, and Aaron didn’t know what to say. “She found Rebecca’s cardigan in my car, it had blood on it. I tried to make up an excuse but she didn’t believe me. So, I had to tell her everything. Only she doesn’t understand, I did this all for her!”

Aaron frowned in confusion. “How? Lachlan. How was any of this for Belle?”

“I did it so that we could live a happy life together! She wasn’t supposed to find out!”

Suddenly, Aaron’s eyes widened, Belle hadn’t turned up to the after party in the pub. “Where’s Belle now?” He whispered, watching as the teen looked down at the floor. “Lachlan, what did you do?”

“I’ve tied her up in the barn up at Wishing Well for now. Everyone’s at your party so they shouldn’t find her there.”

“You haven’t hurt her, right? I swear to you if you have I’ll-”

“Of course I haven’t! I love her!” Lachlan spat. “I’d never hurt her!”

“Lachlan, you’ve killed five people! Three of them were your family!” Aaron stared at him.

“But I did it for Belle! Why won’t anyone listen to me!” The teen shouted, kicking the table, causing a loud bang to fill the room. Aaron and Robert both flinched.

“So,” Aaron cleared his throat, “Belle knows what you did. Why is that Robert’s fault?”

Lachlan turned to face Robert, eyes boring into him. “Because if it hadn’t have been for him and his scheming, Rebecca wouldn’t have wanted to leave, and we wouldn’t have been going to Australia! It’s all down to him! All of it started because he couldn’t just leave us alone!” He growled, and he stepped closer, holding up the gun so that it was directly in line with Robert’s head.

Aaron gulped, panicking slightly, as he tried to turn Lachlan’s attention onto him.

“Lachlan, Seb is his son! He just wanted access, that’s not his fault.” But Lachlan wasn’t listening. “Lachlan!”

Lachlan was shaking his head. “No. No, ever since we came to this village, _he_ ,” the teen pointed at Robert with the gun, “hasn’t stopped ruining my life! Because of him I killed my mum and grandad, because of him, I had to kill my best friend, my aunty, even a guy I barely knew! It’s all down to him. And now…” His eyes darkened, “Now I’ve lost Belle. The only person who I loved and who loved me back, and I’ve lost her! And it’s all his fault!”

Aaron stared at Lachlan, watching the way he glared at his husband, gun unwavering now.

“He needs to die.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies for taking a week to update this, that wasn't the plan, though it was a busy week with A Level results day and sorting out Uni stuff. However, now I'm back with this new chapter! Lachlan's finally come clean about the murders, what you think will happen next? I hope you're enjoying this story, constructive criticism and comments are very much welcome. Look forward to the next chapter soon. Thanks for reading! L x


	4. One Bullet, One Shot

Liv sat at the bar with a glass of orange juice, glancing behind her where Victoria was still sat with Seb, bouncing him up and down on her knee. She smiled and gave him a little wave when he looked up at her, before turning back to her drink, taking a sip. Almost immediately she could feel someone next to her and turned to see Chas making herself comfortable on the barstool beside her, smiling.

“Hiya love,” Chas grinned, turning to face the teen, “You enjoyed today, then?”

“Yeah, I did.” Liv nodded, her smile growing. “It’s been a great day.”

“Hasn’t it just?” Chas raised her glass before taking a sip. “You know, today’s been a long time coming, there was a time I didn’t think they’d ever get here.”

“Mhmm,” Liv mumbled in agreement before putting her glass down, “I’m glad they did though.”

“So am I love, they both deserve it. And don’t tell him I said this but,” Chas nudged her slightly with her elbow, “Robert’s grown on me quite a bit this past year, and he makes my son happy, so I can’t complain, can I?” She chuckled, earning a laugh from Liv.

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell him, wouldn’t want his head getting even bigger, would we?”

“Exactly,” The older woman grinned, before looking around the room at the guests, “Seems like everyone’s still having a good time, doesn’t it? This party’s turned out to be a huge success. Shame the two guests of honour haven’t been around for much of it. We haven’t even gotten to the cake part yet, and I can tell Cain’s getting impatient with that welly.”

At that, Liv looked around, “Yeah it’s a bit odd innit? They’ve both been gone a while, haven’t they? Didn’t you say that Aaron said he wasn’t going to be long?”

Chas shrugged, “Yeah but I wouldn’t worry, they’ll be back soon.”

“Maybe I should give Aaron a call.” Liv made to pull her phone out, however Chas stopped her.

“Aw leave them for a bit, love. I’m sure they’re fine, why don’t you go and chat with Gabby for a bit, eh? They’ll appear again soon I’m sure.”

Liv sighed before nodding, “Yeah, alright then. They’ll be fine.”

At that, the teen got up from her seat and smiled at the older woman before heading over to talk to her friend.

***

A little more time had passed, neither groom had returned and Liv was starting to get concerned. Excusing herself from her conversation with Gabby, she got up and made her way over to the booth where Chas, Paddy, Victoria and Diane were all sat chatting, with Seb now sat on Chas’ knee.

“Chas, I’m going to nip home, see if they’re still there.” Liv nodded her head back towards the door.

“Ooh I’m not sure love, Aaron said to keep an eye on you, I’m not sure going out there on your own is wise.”

“I’ll be fine, I’m only walking down the road, and I’ll come straight back anyway.”

“Well, I’ll tell you what, kid, you’re brave.” And at Liv’s confused look, Chas continued, “They’re probably taking so long because they’re doing a bit of their own celebrating, _alone_ , if you know what I mean.”

At that, a chorus of groans carried around the table, “Eurgh, cheers for that image Chas, didn’t really want to think of my brother like that.” Liv grimaced.

“Yeah, me neither.” Vic agreed, pulling a face.

Chas shrugged, laughing slightly, “Well, I’m just saying.”

“Anyway,” Liv started, “I’ll be back soon, just gonna see if they’re there and then I’ll come back.” And with a wave, the teen made her way out of the pub and walked towards the Mill. As she neared the top of the driveway, however, she could hear what sounded like shouting from inside the building, and she noticed that the front door was wide open. Quietly, so she could remain unnoticed, Liv took her shoes off and slowly walked along the gravel towards the door.

As she neared the building the voices got louder and she could make out Aaron and Lachlan. Liv frowned, _Lachlan? Why would Lachlan be there?_ Quietly she made her way to the door to the flat, which was closed shut, and put her ear up against it to listen.

_“Of course I haven’t! I love her! I’d never hurt her!”_

_“Lachlan, you’ve killed five people! Three of them were your family!”_

Liv struggled to hold in a gasp, stepping back slightly, _Lachlan had killed people?_ She breathed in deeply before listening again.

_“But I did it for Belle! Why won’t anyone listen to me!”_ She jumped back slightly as she heard a thud come from inside the flat.

_“So,”_ Liv heard her brother speak again after a moment, _“Belle knows what you did. Why is that Robert’s fault?”_

_Robert._ Liv thought suddenly, she hadn’t heard Robert speak, _was he even in there? What was going on?_

_“Because if it hadn’t have been for him and his scheming, Rebecca wouldn’t have wanted to leave, and we wouldn’t have been going to Australia! It’s all down to him! All of it started because he couldn’t just leave us alone!”_

Liv had heard enough. She stepped back, away from the door and reached into her pocket to pull out her phone, only stopping when she realised she’d left it at the pub. Cursing slightly she started running back to the pub. She needed to get help.

She raced up the pub steps and burst in through the doors. Her entrance caught the attention of everyone inside, and the music stopped when they took note of the distressed look on her face. “What is it, Pet?” Diane asked. Then Chas stood up and made her way over.

“Liv, are you alright, you look pale?” She said worryingly, pulling the teen in for a hug. Liv quickly brushed her off, turning to everyone in the room.

“It’s Aaron and Robert. I think Lachlan’s got them trapped in the Mill!” She shouted quickly, eyes wide, watching as everyone grew worried.

“Trapped? What do you mean trapped, Liv?” Victoria stood up next, holding Seb in her arms.

“I could hear shouting when I got there, I think Lachlan’s killed people!” Her voice was wobbling, and everyone was staring at her. “And I think he was blaming Robert for it, we need to call the police! I think he’s going to hurt them!” The teen cried.

All at once, everyone got to their feet. Cain immediately started heading to the door, shouting out orders. “Right. Chas, call the police now, tell them what’s happening. Debbie, stay here and keep an eye on the kids. You lot,” He said, nodding at the men in the room, “follow me, we’re going to go and help.” And with that, all the men followed Cain to the door.

“Cain wait!” Chas shouted, and Cain turned around. “Be careful, yeah?” She whispered, and her brother nodded, before the party goers all made their way to the Mill.

_Please let them be alright._ Liv prayed, as she followed the group out of the pub. Today had been such a good day, it couldn’t end badly. It couldn’t.

***

Inside the Mill, Lachlan was staring down at Robert, his gun still trained intently on him. Aaron stared up at him in horror, whilst Robert sat beside him with his eyes squeezed shut, whimpering when he heard the gun click.

“Lachlan,” Aaron whispered, “Please, you don’t have to do this!” He pleaded.

“Yes, I do” The teen insisted, eyes never moving from Robert’s form. “There’s no other way. As long as he’s around, I’m never going to be able to move on.”

“Yes you can Lachlan. You can, okay?” Aaron nodded, “Please, if you kill him, then there is no way out of this alright? The entire village will hear that gun go off and they’ll know what you’ve done and you’ll lose everything.” Aaron watched as Lachlan’s eyes flickered, as he considered the older man’s words. “If you let us go, if you untie Robert and you let us leave then we’ll keep quiet, I promise.”

“No, you won’t” Lachlan shook his head. “Don’t lie.”

“We will, Lachlan, I promise we’ll keep quiet, won’t we?” Aaron turned to Robert, who nodded vehemently. “See? We won’t say anything, alright? We’ll pretend tonight never happened, and we’ll talk to Belle, yeah? Get her to listen to you. Lachlan, please, it’s not too late. Please.” He begged, tears flowing down his cheeks.

Lachlan stared at them both for a few moments, contemplating not to do, before nodding slightly. And Aaron sighed slightly in relief. “Okay. I’ll let you go, but if you say anything to anyone, I’ll kill the pair of you, I promise.”

“Lachlan, we won’t, we swear.” Aaron nodded again, as Lachlan started making his way over to Robert, moving behind him to take hold of the ropes tying his wrists together.

However, he was interrupted by the sound of footsteps rushing up the drive way outside, and Lachlan stood up again as voices were heard outside the door followed by banging.

“Aaron! Robert! Are you in there? Lachlan!? Open the door!”

Aaron scrambled to get up. “Cain!” He screamed. “Cain, you need to help us! He’s gonna kill us!” He tried to run to the door but Lachlan grabbed his arm.

“Shut up!” The teen screamed, pushing Aaron to the floor and hitting him over the head with the gun, leaving him dazed and causing Robert to let out a muffled scream behind his gag. Lachlan stood over Aaron as he held his head, “Did you call him? Did you get him to come here!?”

The banging outside continued.

“No! No, I swear to you Lachlan, I didn’t know he would show up, okay? My phone’s at the pub, you’ve been with me the whole time, I promise I didn’t call them.” He pleaded. “Please Lachlan, just let us go, I’ll- I’ll call Cain off, tell him it was a misunderstanding, yeah? We can fix this-“

“No! No we can’t, they know! It’s too late. There’s no way I can get away with this now. It’s over.”

Aaron swallowed, “Then just let us go. Please. Killing us will only make it worse!”

The banging continued as they could hear the men outside now trying to break the door down.

Lachlan shook his head. “No.”

Aaron broke down into tears, shaking his head.

“No.” Lachlan repeated. “No, there’s no way out now, I’m finished.” He whispered, before his eyes hardened and he stood up straight. He then looked straight at Aaron.

“But if I’m going down. Then I’m taking him with me.” And before Aaron could stop him, he pointed the gun at Robert and pulled the trigger.

BANG!

And Aaron just stared in horror.

“NO! ROBERT!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Bit of a cliffhanger there, I apologize but I've sort of had that planned since the beginning. Sorry if this chapter feels a little rushed, I was having issues with it. The next chapter should be up soon, so keep a look out. I think there's probably still a few more chapters to go before I end this, we'll see how it goes. Once again, constructive criticism and comments are greatly appreciated, and thank you for reading the new chapter! I hope you enjoyed it. L x


	5. Please Don't Leave Me

For a second there was silence, as if time stood still. Lachlan stood in his place, unmoving and seemingly calm, eyes trained ahead. Aaron felt as if his heart had stopped beating as he stared at his new husband, who’s wide eyes met his own, face contorting from shock into pain. Robert swayed slightly before slumping forward onto the floor and then suddenly sound returned all at once.

Just as Lachlan turned to face Aaron, raising his gun so that it pointed directly in line with his head, the door gave way as Cain followed by Zak and Sam burst into the room. Cain immediately launched himself at Lachlan, knocking the teen out with a single punch, the gun clattering to the floor. Sam kicked it out of the way as Zak knelt beside Aaron, hands holding his face in an attempt to get him to look at him.

“Aaron, are you alright, lad?” Zak’s voiced was laced with concern as his attempts to gain the younger man’s attention failed, “Are you hurt? Look at me, son.”

Aaron shook his head, eye’s still staring at the body lying unmoving by the couch. “No. No. Robert. I-I need to help him.” He started trying to squirm out of Zak’s grip.

“Aaron-“

“No!” Aaron finally looked Zak in the eye, his eyes stern and angry. “Let me go.”

Zak released his grip on his great-nephew’s arm and immediately Aaron crawled over to Robert, turning him over gently.

“Robert? Rob, can you hear me?” He ran one hand through the older man’s hair as the other supported his weight. Robert’s eyes were closed. Aaron tried shaking him. “Rob. Come on, wake up for me. Robert!” Fresh tears formed in the corners of his eyes and fell down his face as he tried desperately to wake him up.

A small groan sounded from underneath the gag as his eyes fluttered open, and Aaron let out a breath in relief, a small laugh escaping his lip as he smiled. “Hey.” He whispered softly.

When Robert let out another muffled sound Aaron briefly turned around to shout behind him. “Can someone get me a knife?” He then turned back to his husband as he reached behind his head to untie the gag. Robert let out a deep breath as soon as the gag was removed and then groaned as he tried to move his arms. “It’s alright, it’s alright. We’re gonna get you out of those soon, I promise.” Aaron moved so that Robert was leaning against him, arms wrapped around him protectively as Sam knelt down next to the pair, holding a kitchen knife. Aaron immediately reached out to grab it, nodding to Sam in thanks before turning Robert over and cutting the ropes binding his hands together, before moving to free his ankles.

The second he was free, Robert groaned again, moving his hands towards his abdomen, holding them both against his wound in an attempt to stop the bleeding. Aaron looked down and his face paled as he watched the blood slip through Robert’s fingers, and he became all too aware that his husband was shaking and swaying once again.

“Woah!” Aaron let out as Robert fell forward into his chest, he manoeuvred them both so that the older man was now cradled in his lap, one hand supporting his head as the other joined his husbands to add pressure to the wound. “It’s okay,” he whispered, “You’re gonna be okay.”

Aaron could hear voices and movement behind him. If he concentrated enough, he could hear his mum speaking out in alarm, and Liv crying, and the distant sound of Victoria screaming for her brother, but it was Paddy who appeared beside him, kneeling down on the other side of Robert, moving Aaron’s hand to place a towel Aaron didn’t even recognize on Robert’s abdomen, pressing down. Aaron gently lowered Robert’s head to the floor, grabbing a spare hoodie from the back of one of the chairs and placing it under his head for comfort. He stroked Robert’s face softly, trying hard to keep a smile on his own face but it was pretty obvious he was failing. Robert whimpered.

“Sshh, sshhh.” He cooed, “Try not to speak alright, we’re alright now, someone’s getting help.” He then looked up at Paddy, who was concentrating hard on keeping pressure on the wound. “Has someone phoned an ambulance?”

Paddy nodded. “Yeah, your mum did. She was on the phone to the police when we heard the shot, they said they were sending an ambulance down, should be here soon.”

Aaron nodded in thanks, glancing at Robert before looking back up at Paddy. “What happened, Aaron?”

Aaron shook his head, “Later. I need to focus on him, I’ll tell you everything later, yeah?”

“Okay,” Paddy nodded. “Keep talking to him Aaron, try and keep him awake. He needs to stay conscious.”

Aaron swallowed before looking back down at Robert, nodding. “Okay. Okay.” He whispered. “Robert? Come on, stay awake, yeah? Don’t go to sleep.”

Robert’s eyes opened again slowly.

“That’s it, hey.”

Robert blinked up at him, eyes unfocused and heavy. “’M tired.” Aaron reached over to tap his face slightly, “I know you are, but you can sleep later, yeah? After you’ve gone to hospital.”

Robert looked at Aaron, squinting. “You’re bleeding.” At that, Paddy looked up from the wound to look at Aaron, eyes locking on the trail of blood slowly flowing from a cut on the side of Aaron’s head.

“Aaron-“

“It’s fine.” Aaron interrupted, looking down at Robert, “Lachlan hit me with the gun, remember? It’s just a cut, I’ll be fine. Let’s worry about you right now, yeah?”

Robert hissed as Paddy applied even more pressure to his stomach, blood soaking the towel, and Aaron forced himself to look away from it, keeping his eyes on Robert’s face.

“Talk to me.  Say anything you like okay? Just keep talking Robert.”

Robert let out a small laugh, “This- this wasn’t how today was supposed to go, did- didn’t even get to do my speech.”

Aaron breathed out a laugh, “You can do your speech another time.”

The older man shook his head slightly, “W-wanted to do it t-today. I wanted it t-to be perf-perfect.”

Aaron leaned forward to kiss his forehead, “Soft lad. Today was perfect, got to marry you, didn’t I?”

Robert smiled, “Now who’s the soft lad.” Aaron smiled with teary eyes, “Only for you.” He then swallowed, “You know, when you’re all better, we’re definitely having our first dance.”

Robert raised his eyebrow, “Thought you did- didn’t dance.” He groaned again in pain, taking a deep breath. “What happened to standing?”

Aaron chuckled a little, putting a hand over Paddy’s to help stop the blood, apologizing softly when Robert winced. “Well, I can make an exception, can’t I? Might even let you put that Adele song on.”

The older man smiled.

“Our song.”

Aaron scoffed slightly, shaking his head, but his eyes shone with affection. “I already told ya we don’t have a song.”

Robert closed his eyes a little, breathing slowing slightly, a small smile on his lips, “Just admit it, the longer… you deny it… the more I’ll keep… bringing it up.” His skin was paling and his body was starting to go limp, and his voice was now a mere whisper.

Aaron’s eyes widened and he could feel panic building. “Hey, hey. Rob, keep talking. We need you to keep talking to me, please?” He whimpered, “Rob, look at me.”

Robert’s eyes opened again, only this time, Aaron could see the tears building as they started falling down his face.

“It hurts, ‘ron.” The blonde slurred, “I don’t think… I’m making it out of this one.”

“No. Don’t talk like that!” Aaron snapped, before his eyes softened and he held Robert’s hand tightly, “You’re going to be fine, okay? We all are. You’re stuck with me now, remember? It’s legal now.”

“Aaron,” Robert swallowed, “I-if I don’t make I-“

“Please, Robert. Stop.” Aaron begged.

“No, please. Let me say this.” He paused, breathing deeply. “If I don’t make it, I need you to know… this was the happiest day of my life.” Robert was struggling now, sweat was forming on his forehead and his grip was weak in Aaron’s hand. “Getting married to you… was the best… decision I ever made.”

Aaron choked down a sob as he tried to keep calm. “Same for me, today was perfect.” He squeezed his hand tightly. “And when you’re better, and fixed up, we can forget all about what happened tonight, and we can look to the future, yeah? You, me, Liv and Seb.”

Robert nodded, eyes closed, before he opened them quickly.

“Seb. Liv. Where are they?” Robert panicked, and Aaron rubbed his arm in comfort, before a voice cut in.

“We’re fine Rob,” Liv said, as she lowered herself down next to Aaron, at Robert’s head. Aaron could see she had been crying, her eyes were read and puffy and there were tear tracks on her face. Though he doubted he looked any better, if not worse. “I’m here, and Seb’s with Diane, he’s just over there.” She nodded behind her, “You can see him in a bit.”

“Liv, where’s the ambulance?” Aaron whispered.

“Chas said it wouldn’t be long. Jimmy and Joe have gone out into the village to wait for it.”

“A-a-and Lachlan?” Robert gritted his teeth through the pain, “What happened to him?”

Paddy looked up, over Aaron’s shoulder, where he could see Lachlan lying on the floor, with Cain and Zak keeping an eye on him. “Cain knocked him out Robert, he can’t hurt anyone else, and the police is on their way.”

Robert coughed slightly, “H-he killed-“

“We know he killed people Robert,” Paddy nodded, looking at him, “Liv overheard him, we can talk about it later, okay?”

Robert nodded, and Aaron looked at Liv, smiling at her slightly, which she returned, before they both looked back at Robert. Before either could speak, Vic appeared, walking around to sit next to Paddy, on the other side of Robert’s head.

“Hey, Rob.” She whispered, tears in her eyes.

“Hey Vic.” He struggled to focus on her.

“You really need to stop getting yourself into this situations bro, you’ll start giving me grey hairs.” She joked, earning a small chuckle from everyone.

“Hey, I’ll be okay.” Robert whispered, “I’ve been shot in worse places.” He chuckled, before wincing.

“Don’t even joke about that.” Aaron shook his head. “You survived that, you’ll survive this too.”

Robert nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I don’t intend to leave now, finally… got my life back on track, haven’t I?”

Aaron nodded, wiping a tear away with one hand whilst the other hand gripped Robert’s hand tightly, trying to ignore how weak Robert’s own grip was. “Exactly, so now you just need to stay awake, until the ambulance gets here.”

“I’ll try.” Robert nodded.

“Good.”

In the distance, the sound of sirens travelled through the air.

Vic smiled, “I can hear them. They’re almost hear Rob, you’re doing so well.”

Robert smiled, and opened his mouth to speak. Only he was cut off by a groaning noise from behind Aaron, and everyone looked up to see Lachlan stirring, eyes opening and head lifting as he looked around. His eyes locked with Aaron’s, then he realised they were no longer alone and he ran to leave, only to bump into Cain.

“No chance, sunshine.” Cain huffed, eyes hard and unforgiving. “You’re not going anywhere.” He grabbed the teenager, stopping him from leaving.

“GET OFF ME!” The teen screamed, as police made their way into the room and over to the pair, one moving behind Lachlan to cuff his hands. “Lachlan White, you are under arrest, you do not have to say anything but it may harm your defence if you do not mention when question something you later rely on in court.”

Lachlan struggled against the police as he was dragged out of the room. But Aaron stopped listening to them as he turned back to look at Robert.

But his eyes widened and his heart dropped when he realised Robert’s eyes were closed.

“Robert?” He tried shaking him, gaining everyone’s attention as they all turned back to the injured man. “Rob? Come on, wake up!”

“What’s happening? Why isn’t he waking up?” Liv was crying.

“He was just talking, I- I don’t understand. Robert!” Victoria tapped his face, as Paddy pressed down harder on the wound. Aaron heard him shout out. “Where’s that ambulance!?” But he was too focused on his husband to hear the response.

“Robert? No, no no no, don’t do this, okay? Don’t leave me, you said you’d stay awake, please wake up.” He was sobbing now, tears blurring his vision as he pleaded with his husband to wake up. “Robert-“

Paddy shouted suddenly, “Over here!” and immediately paramedics were swarming them, gently asking everyone to give them some space, however Aaron wouldn’t move.

“Aaron, love.” He heard his mum behind him and then felt hands gently wrapping around his shoulder, trying to move him away.

“No, no. I can’t leave him. I have to stay here.”

Chas pulled him up, and directed him over to the couch. “It’s okay, you’re not leaving him. We just need to let the paramedics do their jobs, okay? He’s getting help, that’s all that matters.”

Aaron was staring at the backs of the paramedics, trying to catch a glimpse of Robert from behind them. “He wasn’t waking up.”

“He’s in the best hands now Aaron, they know what they’re doing. You just have to be patient.”

And he was. He watched as the paramedics worked on his husband, attaching tubes and wires and an oxygen mask, spouting out all of these medical terms that he was nowhere near smart enough to understand. He stood up once they had moved Robert onto a gurney, and began walking beside him as they carried him out of the flat.

“Hey, it’s me Robert,” Aaron grabbed his hand, bringing it to his lips lightly before squeezing it, “You’re gonna be okay, you’ll be fine. I’m here.” He whispered. Robert’s eyes remained closed, his face covered by the oxygen mask.

Once they were outside, Aaron glanced around. There was a crowd at the bottom of the driveway, where the majority of the village were looking on worriedly, eyes following the stretcher as Robert was carried towards the ambulance. Aaron could see the police pushing Lachlan into the police car. He was kicking off and Aaron could tell he was shouting, but he couldn’t make out what he was saying. As he watched Lachlan getting bundled into the police car, a memory hit him. _Belle._

“Uncle Zak!” He shouted, turning around to look at Zak, who was standing by Cain near the door of the ambulance. “Belle.” He said, watching as Zak made his way over to meet him, “Lachlan said Belle found out everything, he said he had her tied up in a barn up at Wishing Well, you need to get up there.” Zak’s face clouded with worry and it was Cain who patted Aaron on the back, “Thanks son, we’ll get her. Then we’ll meet you at the hospital yeah?” Aaron nodded before following the stretcher again.

“Aaron!”

He turned around to see Liv, Victoria, Diane, Chas and Paddy. Victoria was holding Seb close to her chest, as if protecting him.

“We’ll meet you there, love.” Chas said, “You go with him.”

Aaron nodded again, before looking at Vic, “You’ll bring Seb right?” And Vic nodded, “Of course, we’ll see you there Aaron, go on.”

He hurried to catch up with the paramedics, who were now loading Robert into the ambulance.

“Can I go with him? I’m his husband.” _Husband_. It hurt really, when he realised that this was the first time he was actually saying the word out loud, and he was having to say it under these circumstances.

One of the paramedics, a female paramedic, smiled at him, nodding. “Of course you can, what’s your name?”

“Aaron.” He said, as he sat down on one of the seats by the bed.

“Okay Aaron, and what’s his name?” She nodded at Robert, who was being attached to different machines in the ambulance.

“Robert. Robert Sugden.”

She smiled at him again.

“Is he gonna be okay?” He whispered, eyes never leaving his husband’s prone body, trying to focus on the slow rise and fall of his chest as a paramedic applied more pressure to his bullet wound.

The female paramedic gave him a reassuring smile, “He’s in the best hands now, and we’re going to do the very best we can for your husband, I promise.”

And with that, she turned away to assist her colleague. Aaron continued to stare at Robert’s face as the door to the ambulance slammed shut and the vehicle began to move.

_Please don’t let him die._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I ended this chapter on another sort of cliffhanger, although I intend to give this story a happy ending eventually, it's just taking a while for the boys to get there. What do you reckon will happen next? Constructive criticism and comments are welcome as always. Again, thank you for reading this story and I hope you have enjoyed reading this chapter. I'll try and update again in a few days. Thanks. L x

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is only my second Robron fic, and it's my first multi-chapter. I haven't decided yet how long I want this to be, but it's definitely going to have at least three chapters. I hope you all enjoyed the first chapter. Feel free to comment, constructive criticism is always welcome, and feel free to leave ideas on how you want this story to end. The next chapter should be out soon, I was going to wait to post this until I'd finished the entire fic but I couldn't wait. Thanks, L x
> 
> thepurplepanther on Tumblr x


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